Broken
by LinuxScouser
Summary: When Gourry suffers an accident, the relationship between Lina and Gourry is strained. Can it split them apart? BTW, I don't own Slayers or the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit!
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Gourry? Wake up! This isn't funny. If you're faking this, I'm gonna make sure you're really knocked out!"

I blinked a couple of times before opening my eyes and found myself being blinded by the light, but there was a slight shadow. I was trying to remember what happened and why I would be lying on the ground. But with the almost blinding light and the pounding headache, trying to remember anything else was pretty much impossible.

"Lina?" I groaned, and blinked a little more, trying to adjust to the light.

"Jeez, finally. You had me a little worried then. You hit that tree pretty hard!"

I could feel her presence now, knelt down next to me. I couldn't remember what she was talking about though. I didn't remember hitting a tree. I just remember the ambush by a couple of mazoku and then an explosion.

"Tree? What tree?"

"Oh c'mon Gourry. I know you can be bad but you're really pushin' it!"

My eyes got used to the light now and I could see Lina pretty clearly. She was leaning back against a tree, which I'm guessing was the one she was talking about. I was happy enough on the ground at that point, since my head was pounding. Hangovers were never this bad!

"What happened to those guys then?"

"Oh, well since you were busy taking a nap, I finished them off myself! I think that means you owe me a week of dinner." Lina put on a smug look and I groaned, quickly forgetting the headache and more worried about the fact my bag of gold was already getting pretty light.

"We should get moving soon, the sun is about to set and it's not really the best place to camp. I think the map said there would be a stream not too far away."

"Nngghh…ok Lina. Just let me get the feeling back in my legs first."

"The only reason you don't have the feeling in your legs is cause you've been lying there the whole time. You're being lazy!"

"I'm serious Lina, I can't feel my legs. Just give me a minute."

"Oh really?"

Lina had that look, the one that really scared me. That was the one she showed when I was about to be hurt. She knelt down beside by my legs and in reaction I brought my hands up to fend her off. She batted them away, and then with an evil grin, started pinching at my legs.

"AHH…wait. I don't feel anything."

"Seriously? I'm pinching pretty hard here."

"Nope, I don't feel a thing! Hey, maybe I have an immunity to you now!"

Lina growled at that, and I could tell she was thinking of fireballing me at that point. "Don't push me Gourry…"

"Ok ok ok. Hehe. I was kidding."

Lina looked down at my legs and I could see something was bothering her a little. Just like she would when reading through a new spell book in a language she didn't use often. She'd wrinkle her nose a little and then test things out. Suddenly she brought her fist down on my knee. She looked back at me for a reaction.

"Nope…nothing!"

Now she seemed nervous, this was the point when she was really struggling to understand what was going on. Her brows wrinkled in more serious thought. But there was something else in there. She looked troubled. She moved around and picked up my right leg. Then standing up she pushed it towards me.

"Push back against me, ok?

I tried but I couldn't. I didn't even feel her pick my leg up into the air. There was just nothing, nothing at all.

"Push Gourry! Stop playing about!"

"I am! There's nothing. Can you stop? My back is starting to hurt…"

I looked over to Lina, and the look on her face had me suddenly worried. I started to move my arms to give myself leverage so I could move closer, but I never got the chance to. Lina pinned me back down to the ground.

"Don't you dare move!"

"But Lina…it's really uncomfortable!"

"Shut it! I don't care! I...I thi…I think you're paralysed."

"I'm what?"

"Paralysed…the reason you can't move your legs. When you hit that tree, you must have broken something in your back."

"Well can't you just heal it?"

Lina was silent at that point. Her head was lowered a little so I wasn't able to see her eyes. I never liked her doing that, because I couldn't work out what she was thinking. It usually wasn't good though. I knew whatever she was about to say, it wouldn't be good. Or she would try and pretend everything was ok, when it wasn't.

"It's not that easy. It's complicated in there. I can't just use a healing spell. I could end up doing you more harm than good."

It was my turn to lie there in silence. I'd seen people paralysed before. Some couldn't move their legs. Others couldn't move their whole body. I guess I could count myself lucky then if I was able to at least move something. There was something else I noticed about all those other people though.

"I'm not going to get better…am I?"

"Don't be stupid Gourry! Of course you'll get better!"

"Stop it Lina. I've seen this before. People don't get better from this."

Lina clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in reaction.

"So what? You're gonna give up that easy? We'll sort this out! I'll work out a way! Hey, we can just get you to a healer. They know better healing magic than I do which will make you good as new!"

I was surprised by her reaction and so I didn't really know how to reply. All I could really think about was what we were supposed to do. We were out in the middle of nowhere and the sun had almost set. I wasn't able to move anywhere, and it's not like Lina was able to carry me. But my mind kept going back to the way Lina reacted. To me, it was like she thought this was somehow her fault and she was the one who had to fix it.

"I need to move him somehow. But I can't cause I could make him worse…" Lina began mumbling to herself.

She started pacing back and forth as she mumbled to herself. She was fidgeting a lot with the bottom of her tunic. She was nervous and worried about the situation. You don't travel with someone for a few years without picking up on some of the things they tend to do. I wanted to get up and calm her down. I just wanted to do something to try and help, but I couldn't. Instead I had to lie there and wait for Lina to do something.

"Right! Ok, I need branches, and we have some rope. This should work!" She slammed a fist in her palm.

She turned to the tree and looked up, unsheathing her dagger. She started up her floaty spell and headed up into the tree to hack away at the branches and then dropped them beside me. I never really liked the floaty spell, but still it was better than the one where we flew really fast and high. Something about someone so small carrying someone of my size high up in the air like that just felt wrong. But Lina had a tendency of doing things which no one would expect.

That's why it was pretty fun to be around her. It was also pretty damned dangerous, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Lift your arms, stupid!"

"Wha…?"

"I said lift your arms! You know those things that come out from the side of your body?"

"Why?"

"I just told you! I need to take your armour off. I…GAHH! Look. I'd explain but by the time I finish it'll be dark. So just do what I say, ok?"

I nodded a little and lifted my arms for her. She then took a hold of my body armour and then was pretty carefully about lifting it off my body. It was only then, that I noticed she had made some sort of stretcher from the branches and rope.

"Ok, lift your head carefully so I can get this off you."

"I thought you said I couldn't move."

"If you can move your arms, then you can move your neck. You must have damaged your back lower down. That's where you feel the pain, right?"

I nodded a little and then lifted my head as she said, and she pulled the body armour off. I glanced down and noticed my thigh guards were still on.

"Don't you wanna take those off too?"

Lina shook her head. "No, it's too difficult, but I don't think it will mess up anything. Your body armour would have just got in the way."

She placed the armour on the ground next to our belongings, and then started to move the stretched over. She was deep in concentration, almost like she was casting a spell but I knew she wasn't. I'd seen that look in Lina before. She only does that when there is something she doesn't want to think about. Instead she's occupying herself with other things so she doesn't have time to think about whatever it is she doesn't want to think about.

"Ok, I know you hate this but you have to stay absolutely still. I'm serious about this Gourry. You can't try and flail about like you normally do."

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"You're putting too much effort into this. You could fly to a healer and bring him back in no time. I'll be fine on my own."

"If you haven't noticed, it's getting late. I don't know how fast you think I can fly but I can't fly that fast…Also I'm not leaving you alone. They could end up sending more mazoku and if they find you alone, they could…"

I'd never seen the look Lina gave me just then, but I had been told about it by Zel and Amelia before now. They said she was like that when I was taken away by Phibrizzo. I can be terrible with names but that one always sticks in my head.

"I told you Lina, I'll be fine on my own."

"And I told you, I'm not leaving you alone, so you're just going to have to put up with it. Now hold still!"

I sighed and closed my eyes. I figured that at least I wouldn't be as high in the air as we normally go. Within a few moments, I could feel a slight gust of wind blowing around me and I guessed that meant I was in the air. Just knowing I was floating creeped me out, but I made sure to stay as still as possible.

"All done!"

"Oh finally!"

"What are you talking about? You were barely in the air for a minute."

"Well it felt like much longer."

"Why does that scare you? It's not like you were even that high off the ground."

I'm not going into all of that again, it's wrong that people can just fly around in the air like that!

"Well anyway, you better get used to it, because it's going to happen a lot more often."

"Huh? How come?"

"Well I'm sorry, but little old me won't be able to carry you around everywhere. I'm gonna have to use that levitation spell to move you around. At least with you in the stretcher, I won't have to worry about you moving about and ending up any worse."

"This is just an excuse for you to tie me down."

Lina knelt down and began wrapping the rope around me and then tying it off. She didn't really respond to me, and from the way her hands were shaking, I guess she wasn't in the joking mood. I just didn't want to get bogged down with the idea of not being able to walk. I wanted to be like we normally would be. For some reason, Lina couldn't be like that at the moment. She really was worried about me.

"Ok, finished. Now we just have to get moving to the stream nearby and set up camp. Then from there it shouldn't take too long to get to a village."

She stood up and dusted herself off. She wasn't letting it on but she already seemed a little tired. I wouldn't be able to talk her out of it though so I didn't bother to try. So I stared off at the surroundings instead, and to occupy my mind, thought about different ways of using the surroundings as an advantage in a battle. It worked pretty well because I didn't really notice floating away from the ground and moving along. It didn't just make me forget about floating in the air though. It made me forget about the fact that maybe I would never be able to travel around with Lina anymore. But worst of all, I would be breaking my promise to her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Lina? Are we nearly there yet?"

Lina growled and I swear I saw a vein was about to burst on her forehead. "If you ask me that one more time, I will…I'll…harm you really badly!"

I blinked a little and decided to go back to looking at the scenery which already was boring me out of my mind. The sun was pretty low in the sky so already the surroundings were pretty dark. I wasn't really saying it to annoy her though. I was more worried about her getting tired. I could tell, with some of the sweat starting to form on her brow, and her slightly gritted teeth.

"Maybe we should just stop here. I feel kind of tired…"

"Tired? How can you be tired when all you've done is lie there and ask me if we're nearly there yet? I'm not stopping until we get to where we said we were going to camp. Just keep quiet ok? You're making me lose concentration."

Why did she have to be like that? She always has to make it seem like she can do everything herself and that she doesn't need anybodies help. If she kept this up, she was only going to wear herself out. I still remember her hair going all white when we fought Shabrakadabra. That was from using too much energy. What if she ended up using more than that? She would end up worse than me

I think it must have taken another thirty minutes or so until we got to where Lina wanted us to end up. I could hear the sound of the stream a few minutes before we stopped so I knew we weren't that far away. Lina was careful to set me down gently and once I was down, I could see the relief in her face. I thought she was going to collapse but she held herself together and then she started thinking about what to do next.

"Fire first…then I can get some water. There should be fish too."

"Stop Lina."

"No I have to get things done."

"You're tired. I just want you to take a little time to rest."

"I'll rest later when there is time for it. Right now I need to get a fire going."

Lina then disappeared out of my view but I could hear her nearby. She was picking up small branches and sticks for the fire. Despite being able to hear her, not seeing her worried me a little. With the way I was strapped into the stretcher, there wasn't much movement. I guess that was the whole point but it just felt really annoying. It wasn't like I could even grab onto my sword and use it if I had to.

Lina dropped the sticks and branches nearby and lit them with a really small fireball. It was comforting seeing her again but I don't think she really noticed me. She was just too busy on getting things done. I could tell she was still tired but I had already given up on trying to make her rest. The fire was nice though and I felt a little warmer. Not moving at all kind of does that to you.

"Ok, I'm going to the stream. Just to fill up on some water and hopefully catch some fish."

"Just be careful ok?"

Lina blinked and looked down at me. She must have seen the concern on my face because she smiled softly and nodded. She then turned away and headed off towards the stream, leaving me alone.

Normally I was alright with this. I would just poke at the fire and stare at the flames dancing about. I sometimes wondered if that's how Lina got her fascination with fire. I know she likes to blow a lot of things up with fire. In fact, she seems to get really excited. However, with the way I was now I couldn't do much except try and glance at it since my head wasn't in the best position.

I took up the next best thing and that was to look up at the night sky which was turning more from red to blue. I guess it would be purple in between then. I liked seeing all the stars appear one by one. Lina tried to explain to me that stars were like the sun, but I never understood. I mean the sun is yellow and round, whilst the stars are just dots. She gave up in the end.

I guess I was too busy looking at the stars because I didn't even notice Lina get back. It wasn't until she came right over and peered down at me. In her hand was a fishing line with a few fish hanging off the end.

"Look what I caught!" she said brightly.

"Wow Lina. That looks really great. I can't wait to eat."

I hadn't even thought about my hunger until I saw those fish, and my stomach seemed to notice the fish too. It grumbled loudly in response and suddenly I found myself salivating at the thought. Lina pierced the fish with a few left over sticks and placed them over the fire to cook.

While we were waiting for the fish to cook, Lina sat down beside me and began prodding at my legs.

"Has any of the feeling come back at all?" She asked.

"No, not really. I keep trying to move them every now and again but they just don't want to do anything. So do you think Die Mast will send any more guys after us?"

"I don't know really. I'm not sure what Dynast has in store. I don't suppose he would back off for a bit to give us some more time."

Yeah, I forgot to mention about that guy. Well things were pretty hectic so I didn't really have time to mention it before now. It wasn't that long after we got back from the continent we spent our previous adventure on fighting Darth Scar. We decided to just travel around and enjoy what there was to offer, and take down a few bandit camps here and there. Maybe even look for a new sword since the Sword of Light was sent back where it really belonged. I still miss it though, and even more so because of what happened since.

After we finished with a bandit camp, we were walking to the next town. Lina looked happy enough as the camp had one of the largest amounts of treasure ever seen before. She was even singing happily to herself which had me pretty shocked. It didn't last long though as a mazoku appeared and attacked us out of the blue. We managed to defeat it. I say we. I mean Lina really since without my Sword of Light I wasn't much use against the mazoku. I just tried to be an annoyance and give Lina enough time to do what she needed to do.

So when the mazoku was dying (and taking a long time doing it) it told us to expect more from Die Blast. Or is it Die Fast? The mazoku certainly didn't do that. Well ever since then, we barely got to travel from town to town without a mazoku attack. We hadn't found out why he was after us, and we still don't.

"Fish is done!" Lina exclaimed and my stomach grumbled in response.

"Oh great! They smell REALLY good."

I was lucky that Lina hadn't tied my arms down with the rest of my body otherwise she would have had to feed me. One part of me wouldn't mind it, but the other felt it was just not right. Also Lina would probably just eat everything herself, and not even give me a chance.

I took the fish she handed me and was about to start eating when I noticed the way Lina was eating her fish.

"Why do you still eat them like that? It's gross! Didn't you learn from last time?"

"Look, I'll eat them my way, and you eat them yours."

"But it's putting me off my food."

"Well if you don't want it, I'll gladly take it!"

"Uhh. Actually I'll have mine anyway."

I enjoyed the meal and was thankful of Lina for it. She was handling the situation pretty well and showing off a brave face. I just sometimes wish she thought about herself sometimes. Yes, I said that. No she's not so selfish all the time. Quite a few times when situations get serious, she will always forget about herself and look out for others.

"You should get some sleep Lina, you look tired."

"I'm fine actually." She lied as she yawned straight after. "Anyway, I need to keep watch. You don't know when the mazoku could strike."

Within about 15 minutes, Lina had dozed off beside the fire. I smiled a little and I found my hand reached out to stroke her hair gently. I didn't feel tired at all. I mean why should I? It wasn't like I was doing any hard work! So I felt like I should keep watch, and I could always sleep when we travelled the next day. Ok, if anything were to happen, then I wouldn't be able to do much. But I could always get Lina's attention though, so that was my plan.

If only something did happen because for the next few hours, nothing happened at all. Occasionally when camping out, you might get a wandering animal that looks a little interested and then disappears. Or you might get some bandits trying to attack. This night, everyone and everything seemed to be busy.

I looked over to Lina who was asleep on her side. I was still stroking her hair as it kept me occupied. I could tell how fast her breathing was since her sides moved ever so slightly. I could tell from that she was sleeping even though she wasn't facing me. I also just started to notice she was getting cold. Since she was between the fire and me, the goose pimples on her skin showed up well. I took her cape from nearby and managed to use it to cover her up.

"I'm…sorry…Gourry…" Lina murmured.

"Lina?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Jellyfish! You want to wake up sometime today?"

I didn't even remember falling asleep. I just remember what Lina mumbled in her sleep and I wondered what it was she was sorry about. I couldn't just bring it up in the middle of a conversation though. I'd done stuff like that before and it just made things worse! I had to be more careful about it but I wasn't sure how.

"Mnngghh…morning Lina."

"How can you be tired when you've done nothing?"

"Well someone had to keep watch last night" I smirked knowingly. Lina went a little red and looked away.

"Yeah…well. I knew nothing was going to happen anyway. My instincts are perfectly honed and I could tell we would be safe so I slept while I had the chance."

"Any chance of breakfast?"

"Do I look like a housewife?"

Well no, she doesn't look like a housewife. But she was up before me and I wasn't exactly going to whip up breakfast myself in this state. I guess I was pushing my luck a little though.

"Anyway, you can eat while we go. I've had my breakfast already but I want to get moving. It's going to take us a little longer to get to the next town." Lina grumbled. I guess she was a little annoyed that I assumed she made breakfast for me.

She placed a few of the rations on my chest and it was only then I noticed that the camp was already packed away and Lina was ready to go. She must have sorted everything out before I woke up. I guess I was a little surprised to see that she had planned everything out already without telling me. Although by the time she had explained everything to me, it would probably be time to set up camp again. So she really had planned it all out! I think I just confused myself then.

Like the day before, Lina used the Levitation spell. See I remember things sometimes! She would walk behind me as she used the spell. I guess normally she would use it on herself but if she put her mind to it, she would be able to use it on other people. So why couldn't she do that with me instead of just carrying me like she used to. That was half of the reason why I was scared!

I was worried though because I'd never seen Lina use that spell for a long amount of time. The most I can remember would be for a few minutes. Now she was doing it for hours at a time. I was scared she would wear herself out or worse, harm herself. So I would make excuses to stop for a rest because I didn't want her to hurt herself.

"Ahh…can we stop Lina?"

"Why?"

"I think there is a branch sticking into my back. Can we just stop and break it off?"

"Oh I suppose so."

Lina put me down and I could hear her breathe out quite sharply. Dammit Lina, stop being a hero. She knelt down beside me and took out a small dagger.

"Ok where about is it?"

"It's sticking into my back, just below my neck."

"I can't see anything sticking out, are you sure it's there?"

"I dunno. I can't feel it anymore. Maybe it broke off just then."

Lina eyed me warily as she put the dagger away and sat down next to me. She took a few generous gulps of water from the bottle before handing it to me. I just took a few sips and just did my best not to spill any of it elsewhere. I didn't do a good enough job because some of it went down my neck.

"Jeez Gourry, you're almost as bad as a baby!"

"Sorry! Just don't put me in one of those bibs ok?"

"I don't know. If you keep up, I might not have any other choice…"

We started off again and the rest of the day was like that, except for when we stopped for lunch. I didn't have to make an excuse since Lina made it. Actually it was her stomach that made it, but I wasn't going to complain. It gave time for Lina to rest.

By the time night came, we stopped again to set up camp. We were still by the stream which was lucky. In fact we followed the stream the entire time, and it would eventually lead us to the town.

"We should make it to the town tomorrow around midday." Lina stated as she started up the fire. "Then we'll find a healer who will make you better!"

I just nodded a little as I looked up to the stars as they reappeared. Lina did the same as the previous night and again she fell asleep when she was meant to be on watch. I paid more attention to her this time, wondering if whatever it was she dreamed about last night would be dreamt again this night.

It took a couple of hours before there were any signs of her dreaming but it didn't look like she was in any distress. I just sighed and looked back to the stars with my fingers tangled up in her brown hair as it spread out messily on the ground.

"I don't know what you have to be sorry about Lina. If anyone should be sorry, then it should be me. Just look at what I'm putting you through." I whispered to myself

"What are you talking about?" Lina mumbled as she sat up sleepily and rubbed her eyes.

"Uhh…nothing interesting." I managed to stammer in reply.

"Oh really? I see…"

Lina shuffled her way next to me and started prodding at my legs again. I just shook my head as I felt absolutely nothing at all. I noticed her eyes darken slightly, and I was wondering what was bothering her.

"You mentioned about being sorry for something last night when you were sleeping."

Well so much for bringing it into the conversation gently!

"Eh? Sorry? I can't think of anything to be sorry about. It was probably some stupid dream. I might have been stealing your food and said sorry but I didn't really mean."

Lina is an excellent liar, but when you've been around her for as long as I have, you can work out when she is lying. And no, I'm not going to tell you how I know.

"So what were you sorry about?" Lina added.

"What?"

"I heard you. It was you mumbling to yourself that woke me up."

"Oh…"

I didn't want to tell her but it was obvious she had heard what I said anyway. I could try to come up with something else but then she would know I was lying. Of course, with the way she was, she would push the point until I broke and gave in. Maybe I need to use that against her next time.

"I just feel bad that you have to carry me around everywhere. I can tell it's wearing you out, and I'm worried you're going to push yourself too hard. Also, I don't think this healer will be able to help me. That means I won't be able to protect you anymore. I'm stupid to think you're going to stay around because I know that's not what you want to do."

"Stop being so stupid Gourry. This healer will sort everything out and we'll get back out and have fun as always."

"But Lina…"

"Just don't think about it anymore. It'll be fine…"

Another lie…

We reached the town by the afternoon the next day and with some helpful directions we were soon at a healer.

"So yeah, he hit the tree pretty hard and I heard a crack. I thought it was the tree, but when I saw it was ok, I figured it must have been…" Lina trailed off.

"Ok then. I'll just do a few tests and then we'll see what we can do from there." The healer replied. "If you could please wait outside, Miss?"

For a moment it looked like Lina wasn't going to leave. Her crossed arms and determined look definitely gave that impression. However just a smile and a nod from me seemed to be enough for Lina and so she left the room.

"I'm stuck like this aren't I?" I said bluntly.

"Well I just need to do some tests and make sure."

"You're a healer. You've seen this before like I have on the battlefield. I'm not going to get better."

The healer sighed, stroking his greying beard. I wish I knew the guy's name! He looked like he was in his late forties to early fifties. A few wrinkles and his hair colour seemed to give it away. He started moving my legs like Lina did, and asked me to try and push back. Nothing had changed from the past few days and so nothing happened. I was then moved on to my front and the healer began pressing certain points along my back and asked me if I felt anything. It was only about half way up that I started to feel anything.

"If I was there when the damage was done, then I probably would have been able to help. However, too much time has passed between when the injury occurred and now. Just like the Resurrection spell can't bring people back from the dead, it isn't capable of restoring the damaged parts of the spine. It's too complex. It's not like healing a cut or restoring blood loss."

I didn't really understand much of what he was saying but I understood enough that he was telling me what I already knew. I wasn't going to get better.

"I can't help you, but there are cases of people known to regain limited mobility through exercise. For now, all I can do is repair the break so no further damage will occur."

I guess despite knowing that I wasn't going to get better with a simple spell, I had a little hope that he might have been able to do something. There was still some hope but it still wasn't promising. I might never get back to the way I was, and even to get to that point would take quite a lot of time.

I must have fallen asleep during the time the healing was repairing my back because I found myself waking up in a strange room. The light coming through the window seemed too bright at first, but my eyes adjusted in time. I looked over to my side and noticed Lina in a chair nearby, asleep with a blanket half covering her.

I pushed myself up and was grateful that I could at least sit up and move my back without fearing any more damage. It was just weird not being able to move my legs, and it was tough getting used to the thought of never being able to use them again.

I looked to Lina again who seemed to be sleeping peacefully and I wondered how she would take the news if she hadn't heard it yet. Looking at her made me think of all the things she was able to do despite looking like she shouldn't be able to do those things. I thought about something she told me and when that was, I couldn't remember. It was about being able to put enough will into something, and then you could do anything.

I pulled the covers off myself and moved myself over the end of the bed where my legs slumped off the side. I reached out to the bedside table and used that to push myself up on my feet, but I was using my arms to keep myself. I then closed my eyes and thought hard about being able to use my legs.

"I will move my legs…I will move my legs…I will…"

"Gourry? What's wrong?"

I let myself go and used everything I felt inside to move forward. Instead the only movement was the ground rising up to meet me. I hit the ground as my legs just gave way beneath me.

"GOURRY!" Lina shrieked as she ran to my side. The healer from before came hurtling through the door along with a young girl who must have been about 15. Lina and the healer helped me off the ground and brought me back to the bed.

"I don't know what you were thinking but you need time to rest."

"When the hell is he going to get better?" Lina demanded.

"Lina…"

"What Gourry?"

"I'm not going to get better."

"Well then when is he going to make you better?"

"He's not…"

"And why the hell not?" Lina started glaring at the healer.

"He just can't, no one can. It was too late."

"What?"

"Too much time has passed and so the nerves have died." The healer butted in.

"I…I knew I took too much time."

"Lina, it would have been impossible. He would have had to have been there."

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry Gourry. I'm sorry…"

I looked to the healer and his young helper and they took that as a sign to take there leave. I then looked to Lina.

"I don't understand Lina. How could this be your fault? It was an accident."

"NO! This is my fault! If I hadn't put myself in that position, you wouldn't have tried to protect me! I was in danger and you put yourself in that danger instead of me."

Suddenly it all made sense, and something that seemed so fuzzy was now perfectly clear. We were battling with two mazoku sent by Dylast and it was pretty tough. Normally it had been one and we handled things pretty well so I guess he started to take us seriously. We were dealing with one each and I was just holding one guy off until Lina had dealt with the other one.

Only it didn't go to plan and Lina was in danger. If I did nothing, then Lina might not be here right now. I didn't think twice about pushing her out the way. Even if it meant I took the brunt of the blast. That must have knocked me out and sent me flying into the tree.

"I did promise that Lina. I'm not going to break my promise just so I don't get hurt."

"Why do you have to be so stupid? You should look out for yourself sometimes."

"I could say the same for you. What do you think you've been doing to yourself for the past few days? I've been worried you would do yourself harm. I've never seen you use a spell like that for so long."

We both sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I guess neither of us knew what to say at that point. But after what seemed like forever, Lina broke the silence.

"So what now?"

It was strange to hear that from Lina. She was the one who always had a plan. I was the one who normally asked what we were going to do next. Even though a lot of the time even after asking I still didn't know what it was we were going to do.

"I don't know. The healer said there are cases where people get some movement back. I guess I'm going to try and get better and hopefully get my full movement back."

"How long do you think that will take?"

"Months? Maybe even years…"

"Oh…"

I'm not sure but I think that was one of the first times I saw Lina speechless.

"You don't have to wait Lina. You can carry on travelling. I don't want to force you to stay. You should carry on doing what you love."

"What are you talking about Gourry?"

"I think you should leave…"


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm not leaving, ok? I don't know what has got into your head and stuck there but I'm not going to leave you here on your own."

"I don't want you here."

"What the hell is going on with you Gourry?"

"If you stay, I know you're going to become unhappy. I know what you're like when you're travelling. You're happy. You stay anywhere too long and you get grouchy and can't wait to leave."

"That was different…"

"No Lina. I'm gonna be here for months at least. I might never leave because I might never walk again. I don't want to see you here like a chained animal. I'd rather you be gone and know you're feeling great then to see you here so depressed."

"Gourry…"

"JUST LEAVE!"

I don't know what got into me. I don't know how I managed to yell at her like that. I don't think I had ever done that before to her. All I knew was despite hating to see her leave, she had to go. I was never going to be able to protect her anymore like I had promised her. If anything, travelling with her would put her in more trouble. The best thing for me to do at that point was to try and make her leave. I knew once she got used to the idea, she would be ok.

"…fine. If that's what you want. Then I'll do it." Lina replied softly.

I really didn't expect that reaction from her. It was a surprise. I was expecting her to yell at me and then slam the door behind her. If she did that, then I wouldn't have felt so bad. I was prepared for that. However this reaction was the complete opposite and it threw me off. It felt horrible to see her leave so quietly and gently. The one time I wanted to run after her and tell her sorry, I wasn't able to.

I leaned back into my bed and rolled onto my side. I knew I did the right thing for Lina, but in the end it meant I was now on my own. Also because I wouldn't be able to walk, then I wasn't going to be of any use.

I remember feeling like this some time before meeting Lina. It kind of felt really long ago. I mean, I'd been through a lot with Lina. In the few years I had been with Lina, enough happened to fill quite a few lifetimes. It was definitely more than I had been through before meeting Lina.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. Well before I met Lina, I didn't really know what I was meant to do. I felt useless like I do now. I was even going to throw the Sword of Light away. Just thinking about it now makes me laugh a little. If Lina knew what I was going to do then, she would have thrown a fit!

Just as I was about to throw it away, some guy stopped me and he helped me out. Thinking about it now, he reminded me a little of Lina. A little bit of the way he acted did remind me of Lina, but there were lots of other things that made him different. He seemed much stricter than Lina for a start.

In the end, he made me feel like I had something to give to the world, and that throwing the sword away was a mistake. I guess without that advice, I would never have met Lina and would have never had all those great adventures. Maybe what happened to me was some strange way of telling me that I wasn't supposed to have anymore of those adventures. I guess Lina had a life of adventuring before meeting me, and so I'm sure that she will have plenty of more without me.

But no matter how I looked at it, I felt like I was missing out on so much. I never really thought I would leave Lina. I guess it sounds silly, but I thought we would just travel together forever. Now all of a sudden I had nothing. Ok maybe I could get better, but even the healer said that I might not get back to the way I used to.

All of a sudden I was back to that shoreline, ready to throw the Sword of Light into the sea. Only instead of throwing the sword in, I kind of wanted to throw myself in.

I spent the next few days in bed, and never really left. The healer's helper kept checking in on me, leaving me some food to eat and to check I was ok. I found out that her name was Marina, and I really appreciated her helping out, but at that point I wondered if I really wanted to be helped.

My hair was starting to knot together and I was starting to grow a pretty decent beard, but I just didn't care anymore. I just wanted to stay in the bed and I wondered if I would just disappear into nothingness. It was only because Marina kept checking in on me and leaving me food that the chances of that happening seemed slim.

I think she was 16. I never asked for her age but from the looks of her, I guessed that's how old she was. She had fiery red hair, the way Lina's brown hair used to go when the sun was setting and her hair caught the light just right, or when she was casting a fireball. It reached down to the middle of her back and was a little straighter than Lina's.

One day she came into the room to leave some food for me to eat, just like she had done every other day.

"Why are you helping me?" I managed to croak out. I guess that is what happens when you don't talk for a few days.

"Well, I'm a helper, so it's my job." She replied as she took the empty plates from breakfast. "When is your girlfriend coming back? It's been about a week since she left."

"Umm, she's not coming back. And she's not my girlfriend. Or…it's complicated."

"Why not?"

"I asked her to leave."

"And why would you do that."

"It's not fair for me to ask her to stay."

"Don't you think she might have wanted to stay? And maybe help you out?"

"Why? It's not like I'm going to get any better. I'm stuck like this. Lina wouldn't be able to stay in one place for long. She would just get annoyed and frustrated. I wouldn't want to do that to her. I know she's happier exploring and having adventures."

"You can get better if you try. I thought she was your girlfriend because when she was waiting for you to be healed, she looked really concerned. I would say that she almost looked upset. It's obvious you've both spent a lot of time with each other and so I think you enjoy adventuring as much as you say she does."

"I…I don't know. Even if I try, I might not get better enough to be able to travel with her. I don't want to put her in danger because she has to look out for me."

"How do you know if you don't even try? You have to at least give it a try. What do you want? Do you want to stay in this bed for the rest of your life or to travel with that girl once more?"

I didn't know what to say anymore and I guess she took that as her cue to leave as I heard her close the door gently.

I sat up slowly and managed to find a mirror to look into. My hair was an absolute mess, and the beard I managed to grow just didn't suit me. Looking in that mirror I felt like a different person. I wasn't happy seeing that other person, it just seemed wrong. I wanted to be the person I was before, and I wanted to be beside Lina again. Even without the Sword of Light, I still felt like I had a reason to be when I was fighting alongside her. I wanted to travel with her like always, and fight with her over meals.

I still felt making her leave was the right thing, but I was starting to realise that just giving up was the wrong thing. I was going to try everything I could to do those things with Lina again, and then when I was better I would travel and search for her.

I looked over to the bathroom from the bed and knew it would be a bit of a journey just crawling, but I felt I had to do this first. I crawled out of bed and slumped to the ground carefully. I didn't want to disturb the others and think something was wrong. Just using my arms, I managed to slowly pull my body along towards the bathroom. I'll tell you now though, it was tough. My years of fighting with a sword couldn't prepare me for having to pull my entire body along the ground.

After what felt like hours but was probably about 15 minutes, I made it to the bathroom. That was the easy part. I now had to try and pull myself up on to the side of the bathtub and use it as a seat. It took every ounce of strength I had inside to be able to get there but I managed it.

Looking into the mirror once more, I saw this man again that I didn't want to be anymore. I looked to the razor blade and then took it from the shelf it was on. Then looking back into the mirror, I knew I had to make that man disappear. I placed the blade to my neck, and then began shaving. I was glad to be getting rid of those awful itchy hairs.

I finished shaving, and I also took a nice relaxing bath where I realised how much lighter my body felt in water. I thought that might come in use sometime, but at that moment it was more important to wash my body and hair and get rid of the tangled and knot-ridden mess it had become.

Once finished, I made my way slowly back to the bed and then once I was on it, I looked back to the mirror. I felt a little more like my old-self. That was the way I wanted to be. Now there was only one small thing left to do. I had to get my body back into shape so that I could go after Lina and be with her again like we had. I looked down to my legs and knew I had to get them moving some how. Even if they wouldn't move how I wanted them to, I would have to get it done so for the moment I reached down and used my arms to move my legs back and forth.

I wasn't fooling myself. I knew this was going to take a real long time before there was any sign of improvement, but being with Lina again was the inspiration I needed, and I wasn't going to give up until I could do that again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Mr Gourry! Mr Gourry!"

"Morning Edward." I replied with a smile.

"Will you please finish that story from last night? I really want to find out what happened!"

"Hmm. I suppose I could, but only if it's ok for me to have some breakfast at the same time. I'm starving!"

I guess it must have been about six months since the day I decided I was going to do my best and get better. It's been really hard and difficult, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Things like that never stopped me before. When you think about it though, nothing is as difficult as waking Lina up and not suffering a fireball for it afterwards. So I thought I was well prepared for the difficult time I was going to go through.

I'm still not anywhere near what I used to be like, but at least I was managing to walk. I never thought I would be able to walk but that started to happen in the past month. I need to use a stick, but it's better than being stuck in that bed. I think a change of surroundings was one of the things that pushed me the most to try and start walking.

Once I started to walk, it was like my whole world opened up. I mostly spoke to Marina and the healer. I swear I still can't remember his name, and I don't think he minded so I never made the effort. Now I was meeting the townspeople and one of them who seemed to be really interested was a little boy named Edward, who must have been the age of nine.

I guess some stories about the adventures Lina and I had along with Zel and Amelia must have got around because the second Edward found out who I was, he never wanted to leave me alone. He was always bugging me about what we got up to, and wanted to find out everything. I tried telling him over and over, that I was probably the worst person to ask. I don't think he wanted to know, and just wanted to hear stories and so I started telling him a few from the best of my memory.

Now I can tell you right now, I'm not great at telling stories because you have to remember certain details. Often those details are the things I found no interest in and tended to forget about. Edward didn't seem to mind though and couldn't wait to hear more stories. He told me Lina was his favourite because she was really cool, being able to cast all those destructive spells. Despite Lina being his favourite, he told me that he wanted to be like me, and wanted to learn how to fight with a sword.

After speaking with his parents and making sure it would be ok, I decided to teach him a little after he finished school. I figured it wouldn't do him any harm and also it would help me a little. I could use some training and I thought it might be fun too. You try sitting in a bed for about 5 months straight. It's really dull!

I sat down at the table where Marina asked me what I wanted. I didn't ask for as much as I used to, but I guess I never worked up the hunger like I used to. What with travelling and fighting, plus dealing with Lina could be a little stressful if you happened to annoy her! Marina soon returned with a few plates I started to dig in the second it was set down in front of me, but I noticed Edward was eager for me to continue my story.

"So…where did I leave it off last night?" I asked just after finishing a good mouthful of egg.

"Lina got hurt really badly after saving Sylphiel!" He said excitedly.

"Oh yeah. That was really scary. For a moment, I thought Lina had died. But Sylphiel somehow knew she was still alive. However, things were really bad and if Lina didn't get any help, then she would die."

"What happened? What did you do?"

"Well, I didn't really do much. It was Sylphiel and Amelia who stopped the bleeding, but unless more was done, then she would…"

I know I didn't remember a lot, but that was one of the moments I would never forget.

"How did she do that? Rezo was attacking you guys all the time."

"Well Zel cast some spell and they were in some sort of bubble. They flew away really quickly. I knew then that Lina would be ok, because she was in Sylphiel's hands. I knew she would make everything ok."

"But what about you, Zel and Amelia?"

"Well to be honest, against that Rezo guy, we didn't have much of a chance. However, we knew we just had to do our best and hold him off until Lina got better."

"That must be scary!"

"Well it is when you think about it, but in the heat of the moment, you have to try not to. If you let yourself get scared, then you end up freezing, and you get into real trouble."

"So what did you guys end up doing when Lina was being healed."

"Well I remembered one time Lina used a spell with the Sword of Light and it became really strong. Only I thought it was no use cause Lina was out of action."

"Didn't you think Amelia and Zel could do anything?"

"Eh hehe…well I didn't realise it was just the same thing for them to cast a spell on the Sword of Light like Lina."

"Jeez, Mr Gourry. I thought you having jellyfish for brains was a joke!"

"Hey now…"

"Sorry!" Edward laughed a little. I didn't really mind, I was used to it from Lina.

"Well anyway, that worked for a bit. Then Lina came back in the nick of time. She had this other sword that was part of the tree. It harmed Rezo some how, and so we all worked together and managed to defeat him."

"Wow! Really? That's amazing. That must have been really cool."

"I don't know about that. I just know I was happy that everything was over and that people wouldn't be after us anymore."

"Hey Edward. Isn't it time you go to school? You'll be late." Marina said as she was taking away my empty plates.

"Huh? Is that the time already! Oh no!" Edward grabbed his things and started to run out the door. "See you after school, Mr Gourry!"

"Bye Edward." I replied, finishing off the last few scraps of bacon.

It was fun remembering the things I got up to with Lina. Some of the things were tough though. I'd avoided the story about Phibrizzo as I didn't like remembering that one, although there wasn't too much I remembered. I knew there was a lot I missed out on, and it wasn't like it was my fault I couldn't remember. Lina couldn't remember some of it either! Still, I didn't want to go over those events like a story from a book.

I did think though, that if Edward liked what I had to say, and I wasn't really good. Then maybe Lina could write some books about what we did. She would make them really exciting, and I'm sure she would make some money out of it. Although I'm sure she would just say she did everything herself and just say that Zel, Amelia and I would get in the way.

"I heard some stories about what you got up to, but I never realised how dangerous it all was." Marina came back from taking the dishes away and sat down at the table with me.

"Yeah, I guess it's dangerous, but I never really thought about that. I just enjoyed being with Lina and going to all of these different places, getting to try all different foods."

"I'd love to be able to visit different places and see what life is like elsewhere."

"It is really good. I think it would be too dangerous for you."

Marina just started giggling, and I wondered if I said something funny.

"What is it? Did I say something funny?"

"Oh, it's just you contradicted yourself."

"I what? Is that a bad thing?"

Marina just started laughing again.

"No, it's ok Gourry. I appreciate your concern. If I were to travel, then I would be sure to go with someone who could protect me."

"That's good to know, you need to be safe when travelling."

We were quiet for a moment, and I wasn't really sure what to say, and Marina seemed to be thinking about something.

"You speak about Lina quite a lot. You really care about her don't you?" She said softly.

"Yeah, I do. I've spent some of the best years of my life with her."

"Do you love her?"

"Huh?" I spluttered in reply, nearly choking on some of the juice I had drunk.

"It's ok." She giggled a little again. "You don't have to answer. I think I already know how you feel."

"Oh…" I couldn't help but blush.

I found myself opening up a lot to Marina and Edward and I wasn't sure why. I think it was easy because I didn't really know them, and I knew inside that once I got better enough, I would be leaving and probably never see them again. I couldn't speak like this with Lina, Amelia or Zel. It was embarrassing in a way. Somehow we always ended up meeting and I knew how Lina and Amelia were over things like that. Lina would just avoid the subject, and Amelia would just take it overboard. And Zel. Well you know what he is like.

I spent the rest of the day walking around town. I used it as my exercise, so I could strengthen my legs. It was good to do, and I met a lot of familiar faces but never could remember their names. I still said hello to them in respect as I made my way slowly around, using the walking stick to aid me.

I often went to the outskirts of the town and sat underneath a tree which was just at the top of a small hill. I started to walk up it as extra exercise to push myself, but the main reason was I enjoyed the view from there. Some flowers were growing around the area. The main reason I enjoyed it was because it was something I often did with Lina. We'd take a break from all the walking and sit against a tree to relax. It was nice to just sit in silence. Often I just fell asleep but I enjoyed it every time. Sitting there and looking out just made me remember those times and how much I wanted to do that again.

I would stay there until school nearly finished and I would make my way back into the town and wait for when Edward got out so we could do some training.

"OWW!" Edward yelped as he stumbled to the ground and rubbed his head.

"You keep moving to the left. If you become too predictable then a good swordsman will learn from that."

"But it's easier. I could move that way quicker."

"Well then you have to work on moving the other way just as quick. You can't pick a favourite move. You have to use the right ones in the right situations. Again, if you have favourites, you just end up being predictable."

"It's a lot to think about…"

I could see Edward getting a little downhearted. I knew how he felt as I felt myself going through the same things but when I was a little younger. I was teaching him the same things I was taught and it wasn't easy, but it was a good lesson to learn.

"It is a lot but you will get used to it, and soon enough it comes second nature. You just need to keep practicing over and over, every single day. Now attack again."

"Ok…" Edward took his position and changed the grip on his makeshift sword which was just a stick of wood. "Hyaaaaahhhhh!"

He came at me with as much speed as he could, and then changed his direction. Then suddenly he changed it the other. I smiled a little, seeing he was learning a little. However he was concentrating too much on the direction he was going that his guard completely disappeared. I struck him on the side of the body with my walking stick. It was just enough to know he was hit and it would hurt but not too badly.

"Ahh!" He yelped again as he fell to the floor clutching his side.

"I think that's enough for you today." I gave him my hand to help him up and he took it, just rubbing his side to try and get rid of the pain.

We headed back to the healer's where Marina greeted us with a really great looking meal. Edward ran ahead and sat down at the table. He tended to have a few more of his meals over here rather than at his home, but I guess his parents didn't mind too much. I think they were just glad he was getting involved with something as he was apparently a quiet child beforehand. At least that's what Marina had told me about him.

I soon joined them at the table and enjoyed the great meal Marina cooked up. She reminded me of Sylphiel quite a bit. She looked after me just as Sylphiel had done, and she made great food! I was sure Lina would enjoy it!

The time I was spending here was really good. But it didn't stop me thinking about wanting to be with Lina again. Despite the life being pretty good here, and everyone was really nice, it just wasn't the same as being out on the road with Lina. I didn't like the idea of leaving, but given the choice, I would go with Lina every single time. I just didn't know how I would be able to do it when the time came. That time was pretty far off though as I wasn't anywhere near fully fit. I would worry about that when the time came. For now, I was just going to enjoy this meal, and then take it one day at a time.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey! Gourry! Look what I can do!" Edward shouted from the doorway of the healer's house.

"I'll be there in a minute, Edward. Keep practicing just for a bit, ok?" I replied.

"Sure thing!" Edward then ran off as I slumped down in the chair.

Marina was holding onto my arm tightly to stop me from stumbling. I was glad to be in the chair and let out a tired sigh. Two months had passed and I was walking without the aid of stick. So I just made myself work harder to try and get better.

"You need to stop wearing yourself out like this Gourry. You're working too hard."

"I know, I know. I forget sometimes and just get a little carried away."

"You know, there are only so many times you can get away with forgetting." Marina smiled.

"You're pretty forgiving. Lina doesn't even give me that chance."

"Lina's pretty short-tempered isn't she?"

"Yeah, she can be. But she's much better than when I first met her. I guess she got used to me."

"Noo! Leave me alone!" I heard Edward yell in a panic.

Years of instinct shook my body into movement. I shot out of my chair and grabbed my sword from the table nearby. I ran which I had just barely managed to do recently, and turned the corner after leaving the house to where I heard the shout of help from Edward.

When I saw Edward, I have to admit I was pretty relieved because my initial thoughts were a mazoku. Instead there was a group of boys surrounding Edward who was curled up on the floor. Despite being relieved it wasn't a mazoku, I wasn't happy with the group of boys who I guessed were bullying Edward. I started to move forward, only to find that my legs didn't want to cooperate with me anymore.

So I was glad to see Marina run past me and head towards the boys. She quickly moved them apart and I think when they saw me with a sword, they ran off into the distance. I felt my legs give way and I slumped to the ground, and it was like I couldn't catch my breath. I looked up to see Marina picking Edward up who looked a little upset and shook up. He had a few bruises but nothing worse.

We all managed to get back inside the healer's house and when the healer heard what happened, he came in and healed Edward. I could see Marina speaking to the healer and they both looked at me, but I tried to ignore it and looked to Edward who still seemed shook up.

"Do they bully you at school?"

"Yeah. Every day, but only in school." He sniffled in reply.

"Why?"

"They make fun of me because I'm pretty small for my age."

"So today was the first day they came after you outside school."

"They found out I was learning to use a sword."

"You know, I used to get bullied at school too."

"You did? But you're amazing with a sword. Didn't you just fight them off?"

"Well sometimes I wanted to, but I knew I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"Well I knew if I fought them, I might beat them. But then I would be the one to get in trouble instead of them.

"Oh...so what did you do?"

"I just used my skills to protect myself. I didn't hurt them at all. I knew if I attacked them and tried to hurt them, then I would only be like them. I didn't want that."

"Will I be able to do that?"

"If you keep practicing, sure. You can ask your teachers for help though. Anyway, you should be getting home. Your parents are probably worried about you."

"I'll take you home, Edward." Marina walked away from the healer

"Can't Gourry take me?"

"No, he needs to rest for now."

"Marina is just as good as me. She'll take good care of you."

"Ok then, see you tomorrow!"

I watched as Marina led Edward away, just as the sun was setting so the sky was turning darker colours of blue. I remember when I first saw Edward, and I thought he was nine. It turned out he was thirteen, and he was small because of some illness from when he was a baby. The healer had helped save his life but that was one of the side effects.

I sighed and leaned back into the chair. I felt annoyed that I wasn't able to help Edward which just proved the point that I wasn't ready to help Lina despite now being able to walk without that stick. I guess with the way I was getting better, I thought I could do more than I actually could. There was just something about the way Edward spoke that had me thinking. I couldn't put my finger on it at that point.

"So you collapsed outside?"

"No, it was nothing. I was just a little tired and my legs gave in. I'm feeling better already."

"Marina has been telling me you've been working yourself hard. Too hard I think."

"Well I want to get better as soon as possible."

"You could do yourself more damage if you work your body too hard. You need to let your body rest. Things will get better slowly with exercise, but too much and you could find yourself back on the walking stick, or worse, in bed."

I should have realised I could cause my body more harm than good but I guess I was blinded by wanting to travel with Lina again. To be honest I was scared about Lina because I hadn't heard from her since she left that day. In the end it was my fault for the way I reacted. I don't think I had ever been that way with Lina before. I just thought that maybe she would visit or even send a letter. In the end there had been nothing, and it worried me because I thought she might have been in trouble. Why else would she not say anything since?

"Edward is back at home and safe. I spoke to his parents about what happened and I think they'll have a talk with his teachers in school." Marina sighed as she hung her cloak up.

"That's good to hear." The healer replied.

"I think he's angry with me." I said quietly, just working out what I thought was wrong with Edward.

"Why do you think that, Gourry?"

"I've been telling him all these stories about what I've been up to, and then I couldn't even help him with some kids."

"Well you weren't recovering from a serious back injury then, which you are now. He isn't angry with you; he knows what you've been through."

"I don't know. I'm normally pretty good at picking up things like that, and I definitely noticed he was angry with me."

"Maybe he's angry with you for another reason?" The healer added.

I couldn't work out what else I had done that would make Edward angry with me. I mean, I was pushing him a little with the sword fighting, but he wanted that. I even spoke to him about it and he said he wanted to be pushed further.

"I don't know what else it could be."

"Maybe he's angry that you'll be leaving soon."

"Huh?"

I never really thought too much about it before. I had spent a lot of time here, and I was really getting along with these people. I suppose just leaving all of a sudden might make him angry. I think it was making Marina angry too because I sensed the same thing from her as I had with Edward earlier.

"I mean, you'll probably just forget all about us once you get back with Lina."

"I'm not going to forget you guys. I can't forget about you guys. I know I can be forgetful, but there are some things I remember. They're the things I consider important. No matter how bad my memory can be, I'll never forget them."

* * *

"Hey! Gourry? You've got to wake up. We're leaving today, remember?"

"Mngghh. Can you just give me five more minutes Lina? I didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh c'mon, Jellyfish! You're not getting away with that again."

"Man, I really can't fool you now, huh?"

"No way!" Edward laughed as he opened the curtains to my room to let in the morning light.

Edward pulled me up from the comfort of my bed so I was sat up. I think if I worked it out right, it was about a year since the accident. Give or take a few days.

"C'mon Gourry. We're going to the nearby town today! We HAVE to get going!"

It was going to be the first time Edward had left town and I was going to accompany him and make sure he stayed safe. Apparently Marina needed some more medicine, the names I couldn't remember, but Edward could. That was one of the reasons why Edward was coming along. It was also so he could experience a little what life was like on the road. Ok, so it was only going to be half a day of travelling. Some experience is better than no experience, right?

"Can I get some breakfast first?"

"Oh I suppose so, just don't take forever."

"Ok, I won't." I laughed a little as I got out of bed and started to get ready.

I was much better now. I wasn't the same as I was right before the accident, but I knew I was nearly there and it would only be time before I felt like I was. Other than that, I guess you could say I was just like a normal guy with pretty good sword skills. That meant it wasn't going to be long before I would leave, but I made sure that I wouldn't just disappear. I had my plans on what would happen before we left.

I headed downstairs once I was changed where Edward was already eating. I sat down and stole a piece of toast from his plate before Marina placed a few plates in front of me.

"Oi! That was mine."

"Well you were looking away. You didn't seem interested in it, so I decided to take it."

"Stop fighting you two or you won't be allowed to go travelling." Marina spoke sternly.

"Ok!" Both Edward and I replied in unison.

Once we finished up, we got ready and soon enough we were heading off to the nearby town. Edward and I walked side by side along the dusty road. Edward now had an actual sword that I bought for him from the local blacksmith. It wasn't a great sword, but it would do most people to protect themselves through the rest of their lives. Edward had got pretty good with his sword fighting and I knew he would be good enough to hold his own against bandits and other skilled swordsmen but he didn't really have the confidence.

Once it got to about midday, we decided to take a break by a stream. We both sat down on the edge and decided to try a little bit of fishing.

"This is kind of boring." Edward sighed.

"Huh? Fishing?"

"Yeah, and travelling. We just walked, nothing much happened."

"Well that's what travelling is mostly made up of. Just walking. All those things I told you about happen now and again, but not all the time."

"Really? I thought we would be fighting all the time."

"Trust me; you'll learn to find that just walking is a good thing. When you find yourself fighting bandits who have been chasing after you for days, and they just keep coming wave after wave. Then you'll know that just walking is really good."

"Well, I'll admit. It's better than just being in town the entire time. Getting to see new things is pretty good. Hey! I caught something!"

It turned out Edward was pretty good at fishing! We ate really well and I wondered if Lina was in the shadows helping us out, because I had never seen someone fish so well since she did when she used that spell. I wasn't going to worry about it though because we had a good meal and that's all that really mattered at the time.

Well after that, we carried on heading to the nearby town. I worked out that we would make it by nightfall which is what we worked out beforehand. We were going to stay at one of the inns and then the next day we would get the medicine and head back.

"Where do you think the best place to ambush someone would be?" I asked Edward as we continued to walk on the road. To the left there were some bushes and on the right was a little forested area.

"Umm…I think…"

"The bushes…" My head snapped left as suddenly a group of bandits appeared. Edward noticed as well and suddenly moved to my side.

"How about you guys give us your swords and all your money and we won't hurt you?" The leader said with a smug look on his face. Four of his friends slowly moved their way around us.

"Edward…you remember everything from your practicing?"

"Sure…"

"Use it. I don't think I can help you." I groaned as I fell to my knees.

"Gourry! I can't do this by myself."

"Sure you can. You've been practicing. I know you can handle these guys yourself. Just remember what you were taught."

"O...ok."

I watched on as Edward unsheathed the sword and got himself ready to defend. He had grown a little in the past few days and so he was able to handle the sword much better. It was why I had the confidence in him to be able to do this.

"Ha! What the hell is this little pipsqueak gonna do? Get him guys!"

One man lunged in from Edward's right but he was well prepared. He darted backwards out of the way and flicked the sword out. He cut the bandit's hand forcing him to drop the sword. He then stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Why you little…!"

Two other men then lunged forward with swords straight out to attack Edward. He moved quickly and deflected the attack of the first guy. He then used that advantage to avoid the second attack completely. The bandit left himself wide open and he used that opening to disarm him. He then quickly ducked as the first attacker came at him again. The duck surprised him and so he got winded when Edward struck the hilt of the sword upwards into his chest.

That left one guy left while the leader stayed out of the way. He was shocked to see this little kid beating his men so easily and I have to admit, he was about ready to turn tail and run.

The final bandit looked like he had a little more skill than the other three, but it was still no match to what Edward had. Edward stood his ground with the sword out in front of him as he waited for the final bandit to attack. Then he made his move and charged towards Edward. He feinted to the right but then moved left. Edward was ready for it and moved one step ahead. He deflected the sword attack and disarmed him easily.

The bandits all seemed shocked and once the bandit leader turned tail and fled, the other guys followed suit. Once they were gone, Edward turned to me in shock.

"I did it…I really did it!"

"I knew you could do it." I smiled.

"I was really scared! But I did what you told me, and I remembered. But…Gourry? Are you ok?"

"Yeah…I just…"

I grabbed Edward and dove to the side as an arrow whistled by. I turned to look where it came from but the archer had already gone running. I guessed he was with the bandit group and once he saw he missed, he didn't want to end up like his friends and ran for it.

"Gourry? You're ok…"

"Heh. Yeah I guess I am."

"So you left those guys to me? And there was nothing wrong with you."

"Yeah. I was ok. I thought it was a good time for you to realise that you can handle yourself with a sword. If you needed help, then I would have come in, but I knew you would be fine."

Edward moved towards me and suddenly punched me in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For scaring me half to death!"

"But now you know you can handle things yourself. You don't need me around."

Edward nodded slowly, looking down at the ground the whole time. Then he hugged me.

"Thanks Gourry…"

* * *

We reached the nearby town by nightfall and headed straight to the inn. I was pretty hungry and Edward looked a little tired too. I guess since it was the first time he had been travelling, then it would wear him out.

"Tiring, huh?"

"It sure is. But I can see why you like to do it."

"Yeah it's pretty fun!"

"Can I get your order?" I was asked.

Why do I know that voice?

"Lina?" I turned to the waitress. She turned her tired gaze from the notebook to me.

"Gourry?"


	7. Chapter 7

"LINA!" I yelled and shot out of my seat.

I clamped my arms around her and held her close. I couldn't really describe to you how happy I was to see her, but I didn't really give myself time to work out why she was there. I didn't really care, I was just so glad to see her.

"Get off me, jellyfish! You're hurting me!" She winced.

"Oh…sorry." I let go of her, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh, wow. You're really Lina Inverse? Why are you wearing a waitress's outfit?" Edward asked, still sat in his seat and a little confused with what just happened.

"Yeah, that's me. And you must be Edward right? As for the outfit? Well yeah, if you couldn't tell, I'm working as a waitress."

"You know my name? Lina Inverse knows my name! Wait, how do you know me?"

"Hehe…um. It's a long story. Why don't I get someone to get you some food while I take a break? Hey Pops! I'm taking a break; we need two lots of the menu on table 14 now!"

"Lina, you just had a break ten minutes ago." The owner replied.

"Well I'm having another one now. OK?" Lina growled while glaring.

"Oh…o…ok…"

* * *

"So what's with the waitress job?" I asked as I grabbed myself a plentiful portion of mashed potatoes. 

"Well, when you yelled at me to leave, I figured you hadn't thought about having to pay the bill for the healer. So I knew there was a nearby town and got this job, then sent payments to the healer for your bill. You didn't think you were getting to stay there for free were you?" She replied before taking a mouthful of bacon from my plate.

"I hadn't actually thought about it at all. But the healer never brought it up. I'm sure if he did then I would have sorted something out."

"But how do you know me?" Edward joined in. I think he was surprised by someone of Lina's size eating so much food. He didn't think anyone could eat as much as I did, especially as I was eating more and more once I got more movement.

"Well I've been checking in on you guys every now and again. I noticed you making friends with Gourry. Oh, and those kids that picked on you. You notice they stopped bothering you now?"

"Yeah?" He replied, suddenly interested.

"Well, I dealt with them, so you don't have to worry about them anymore." She smiled.

"What did you do Lina?" I asked sternly, looking at her through narrow eyes.

"Oh, nothing much! I didn't hurt them if that's what you were thinking. Oh ok, maybe just a little bit, but those kids deserved it. Especially after what they said about me…"

I noticed Lina suddenly looking annoyed. Something told me that Lina probably only did something to them because of what they said about her, rather than helping out Edward. I didn't mind though and the kids deserved it I guess.

"So why did you start working here?" Edward asked.

"Well, my sister was a waitress and I figured if she could do it, then I would be more than capable. I think I do a better job than her actually!"

The story didn't stick with me though. I knew Lina, and I knew she would not be happy being stuck around in one place for too long. Something wasn't right about this and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Hey Edward. Just stay here for a bit ok? I need to speak with Lina alone." I then stood up and grabbed Lina by her arm and pulled her from the table slightly roughly.

"Oi! I've not finished eating my chicken!" She complained, while finishing off a chicken leg.

I continued to drag her behind me as her legs struggled to catch up. Meanwhile, I was trying to find a room where we could speak alone. I found an empty room which must have been where the staff waitresses got changed. I let go of her and turned towards her.

"Why didn't you do what I told you? I wanted you to carry on witho…"

SMACK!

Lina slapped me hard across the cheek, and I was left in a state of shock.

"You must be stupider than I thought Gourry Gabriev! That's for shouting at me like that! No one gets to shout at me like a kid who just got into trouble."

She then slapped me again across the other cheek.

"And that's for just dragging me away in the middle of the restaurant! I can't believe after all the years we've been together you end up treating me like a little kid! Dammit Gourry. I'm not just going to leave you behind because something bad happened. I'm not going to pretend that you were never my travelling partner. You're really stupid to think that Gourry. I know you don't know a lot of things and you can be forgetful. But if you think friends can just leave like that, then I've got you totally wrong…"

She turned away from me at that point, and for the first time in a long while, Lina looked vulnerable to me. I stepped towards her quietly and wrapped my arms around her gently. I leaned my head down into her brown locks.

"I'm sorry Lina. I'm sorry for treating you like that. Can you forgive me?" I spoke softly.

Lina sighed and placed her hands on my arms wrapped around her.

"I guess I could. You owe me though."

"I know."

"Good."

"I just didn't want to tie you down to one place."

"And why would you be worrying about me? You were badly injured! You should have been thinking about yourself."

"I guess I worry about you more than myself. That's why I'm your protector, right?"

"Well you didn't have to worry about that. There were a few bandit camps around, so I took them out whenever I had time off from work. Got me some extra money and the town had rewards for taking out the bandit camps as well."

"I knew you couldn't have just stayed here working as a waitress this whole time!"

"Well, I'm not going to let my awesome sorcery go to waste, am I?" She grinned and wriggled away from my embrace. "Now let's finish eating. I'm not letting that food go to waste!"

* * *

I leaned back into my chair and patted my belly in satisfaction after feeling well fed. Lina did the same as me and let out a nice loud sigh, stating she was pretty happy now. 

"Does this mean you're going now Gourry?" Edward spoke quietly, and when I looked at him, he was looking down at his hands in his lap. I glanced to Lina and she returned the look with a soft smile.

"Well, you knew I would be going someday. I wasn't going to stay forever. But I'm not leaving you or Marina anytime soon. I'm not just ready yet. I still need a few more weeks."

"I guess so, but now with you meeting Lina again. It all suddenly seems so real."

"Hey, it's ok. Gourry won't forget about you guys. I'll make sure of that! Also, I'm sure we'll visit sometime." Lina added.

"Really? You'll come back."

"Sure!" I replied, and then I noticed the time. "You should get to bed now, I'm sure you're pretty tired."

"Ok then, goodnight Gourry. And nice meeting you Lina!"

"Night kid!" Lina replied casually.

Edward then ran off up the stairs towards where the rooms where, and left Lina and me alone.

"So how was that letter from Amelia? That must have had you laughing!" Lina giggled to herself.

"A letter from Amelia? I didn't get any letters."

"You what? I sent you a letter from Amelia. I told her about what happened and she was going to visit but I told her it probably wasn't the best thing to do, so she sent me a letter to give to you."

"Did you send any?" I asked.

"Uhh…um. One or two." Lina replied shyly. Her cheeks suddenly turned rosy red.

"I'll have to talk to Marina about it. Maybe she knows what happened."

"Yeah…I think I'll come with you when you go back. I'd like to speak with her."

"I think she'd like that. I've told her so much about you."

"Yeah…I bet." Lina returned a little coldly.

I was wondering what was wrong with Lina. She certainly didn't seem to like Marina, but I couldn't work out why. She hadn't spoken to her for all I know, so I thought it was a little unfair to feel like that about someone without really knowing them. Marina was a really kind and caring person and I knew if Lina tried, she would like her as well.

"So what did you see when you spied on me?" I grinned slightly.

"It wasn't spying!" She defended.

"Well you were pretty secretive about it."

"Well you yelled at me to leave, so I didn't want you thinking I was back."

"I guess I deserved it."

"You're damn right about that!"

"You still didn't answer me."

"I saw you slowly getting better. I know you were working pretty hard as well. I was amazed at how quickly you got better. I also saw you training Edward. What's his story anyway?"

"He was really sick when he was younger. Apparently lots of kids die from that illness and so his parents were prepared for the worst. Somehow he fought through it and got better but it left him weak and his growth was stunted. His parents were pretty protective over him and he rarely went to school. He was unwell a lot of the time and it meant he got bullied a bit. Somehow he found out about what we got up to and it inspired him. He started getting stronger, and he wasn't as unwell as much."

"Tough kid, he's been through a lot huh?"

"Yeah…it kinda helped me, knowing what he went through."

"Is that why you taught him to fight with a sword?"

"You saw that?" Lina nodded and I carried on. "Yeah, I just wanted to help him out a little."

"Well he's looking really good now. You did a good job."

"Thanks."

We then sat in silence for a bit, not really sure what to talk about, until Lina broke it.

"You seemed to get on with Marina well."

"Yeah, she's a nice person. I guess if it wasn't for her, I would probably be stuck in that bed unable to move right now. She's a really good cook too! You can try out some of her cooking tomorrow. But wait, don't you have to work tomorrow."

"Nah, I can quit whenever I want."

"How did you manage that?"

"I got it into the terms when he hired me."

"I'm not gonna ask how you made him agree to that."

Lina just smirked and stretched her arms behind her back.

"He's probably happy to see me leave. He'll probably get some of his customers back once they find out I'm gone."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! I mean, those guys deserved it, the damn perverts. Thinking they can slap my ass like that. They should be glad they can still procreate."

"Pro…"

"Don't ask…"

"Well, I think it's time we go to bed. We got some things to pick up before we go back tomorrow."

"Ok then. I could do with the beauty sleep! See you bright and early."

Lina headed up to her room and I went to mine which was next door to Edward's. As I got into the bed and looked up at the ceiling, I noticed that it was the first time for a long while that I was looking up at a strange ceiling. It was strange but again comforting. Strange because I was so used to looking at once ceiling, but it was comforting because I knew it meant I was starting to get back to the way I was before the accident.

Meeting Lina was such a good thing for me. It eased all my fears and worries. I was wondering how long it would take me to find Lina, and the scariest thought was that I would never find her again. Although maybe that would have been better for me. I think trying to search for Lina and never finding her would be better than finding out Lina was dead, and that I would have nothing left to do.

I didn't have to worry about that anymore though, because I had found Lina and it didn't take long. I think she knew I had to get myself better alone since she didn't come to see me, or at least let me know she was there. The only problem now was dealing with leaving Marina and Edward after they took care of me for so long.


	8. Chapter 8

"We're back!" Edward exclaimed as he ran towards Marina holding the basket full of medicines the healer needed.

"Welcome back Edward, and welcome back Gou…" Marina's bright face suddenly changed to one of slight surprise. "Is that Lina?"

"You wouldn't have believed our luck! Lina was working as a waitress at the inn we were staying at!" Edward said excitedly again, placing the basket on the table before running over to Lina and grabbing her arms, dragging her into the building as I followed her in.

"Hey kid! Easy on the arms…" Lina growled a little lowly as she was pulled by the excited boy.

"Yeah, if I were you, I would be pretty quick to let go." I smiled and rubbed the back of my head.

"So what were you doing there Lina?" Marina asked.

"It's a long story. One I can explain over a good meal!" Lina grinned as she patted her empty belly.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" I added and quickly sat down at the table, Lina joining me as did Edward.

Marina then ran off into the kitchen to get a meal prepared and when she returned Lina began to explain pretty much everything she had mentioned to Edward and me the previous day. Marina listened closely, but there was something about her body language that seemed off. She seemed worried, or concerned about something, and the problem was with Lina.

I also noticed something similar with Lina, and she had something aggressive inside of her towards Marina. Lina can be aggressive but not if there is no reason to be, and Lina have barely met Marina, so why she would be angry with her was unknown to me.

Instead, I just tried to enjoy my meal and not really pay attention to the conversation, especially since I had listened to it already. I was much more interested in what was on Lina's plate that she hadn't been touching since she was busy chatting and trying to hold off the aggressive side in her. I quickly snatched a few things from her plate and Edward sniggered in response. I quickly put my finger on my lips, signalling Edward to keep quiet, but it was enough for Lina to take notice.

SMACK!

"AHH! Lina! What was that for?" I grumbled whilst rubbing my head, just glad she hit me with the blunt end of the knife.

"Don't act stupider than you already are Gourry. You stole food from my plate."

"Well you didn't look interested in it, and I'm not letting good food go to waste."

"It did go to waste cause it ended up in your stomach instead of mine."

A quiet little laugh turned into a louder and one. Lina and I looked at the source and it was Edward who was laughing at the two of us bickering over food. We looked at each other and a slow grin formed on both of our faces. We then both quickly attacked Edward's plate of food, leaving him with not much left. The laughing quickly stopped.

"Hey that's not fair…"

"Well that's what you get for laughing and not for eating!" Lina and I replied in unison as we both sat back, enjoying the meal.

I glanced over to Marina again and she seemed occupied with something whilst Lina and Edward were bickering a little.

"What's wrong Marina?" I asked with concern.

"Oh! Um, it's nothing Gourry. I'm ok, I was just thinking." She replied in surprise at first since I shook her out of whatever was on her mind.

"Ok…" I replied a little quietly.

Something inside me knew she was holding back from me, and a quick glance to Lina showed she knew something was up to.

"Hey guys, I think it's time I head home." Edward said as he pulled away from the table.

"Sure thing. I'll take you home and make sure you're ok." I smiled as I moved from the table.

I knew Edward would be able to handle himself now, but still I just wanted to make sure he was ok. But what I really felt inside was that Lina and Marina needed to sort something out and both of them needed to realise that they were both good people that I cared about. Something was forcing them apart and I wanted to stop that, and I thought leaving them alone would sort that out.

I walked with Edward towards his home as the sky was going dark. Edward seemed a little tired and I guess that was due to a couple of days of travelling. I knew it could get a little tiring, but I knew if he did it more often, he would get used to it.

"Marina is jealous of Lina. Don't you think Gourry?" Edward asked as we continued to walk.

"Hmm, you think so?"

"Yeah…and I think Lina is jealous of Marina as well."

"How did you pick up on that?"

"I could tell with the way they were acting."

I smiled a little at him. I guess he was picking up on the fact that Lina and Marina were holding back, although jealousy hadn't come across my mind. I suppose he was picking up the same things as I was because that was part of what I taught him. To be able to tell from a person's body language what they are doing. I didn't teach him about the jealousy part though. Just shows what a smart kid he was.

"Do you think you should be leaving those two alone with each other?" Edward added.

"I thought they would be able to sort out their differences and realise that they're both nice people."

"Think about it Gourry. This is Lina you're talking about."

Suddenly dread filled through my body.

"Good point. Are you ok by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, only a few minutes walk. You should be more worried about getting back to Lina and Marina before they tear each other apart!"

"Ok then! See you tomorrow!" I yelled as I started running back where we just came from, and I caught sight of him waving goodbye.

"See ya Gourry!"

I then started cursing at myself as I ran as fast as I could. I was worried about what Lina would be capable of, and that Marina wouldn't be able to handle herself. I tried to push the thoughts into the back of my head and just concentrated on running as fast as I could. Then as soon as I got back to the healer's, I opened the door violently and was going to prepare myself to split the two apart.

Only they weren't at each others throats and instead were pretty relaxed in their chairs drinking tea. It was actually me slamming the door in that surprised them both and they suddenly turned towards me.

"What's happened Gourry? Is Edward ok?" Marina asked, with a look of worry in her eyes.

"Uh…" That was the best I had, since I was a little breathless. "No, Edward is fine."

"Then what's with the sudden entrance?" Lina joined in.

"Um…I felt like making a grand entrance?" I replied clumsily.

They both shook their head in response and I just laughed a little whilst rubbing the back of my head.

"I think I'm going to go and clean myself up." I said to break up the following silence and went upstairs to do as I said.

The only thing was that as I started to run the cool water over my face, I could hear some voices grow louder from downstairs. I grabbed the towel and dabbed it over my face to dry off, only to hear the voices grow louder and louder. I sighed and threw the towel to the side and started to head back down silently when I could hear the voices more clearly.

"I'm surprised Gourry hasn't left you considering the amount of times you beat that poor man up. He has done nothing but care for you and protect you and the best you can do in response is to beat him half to death!" Marina yelled with an angry voice I hadn't heard before.

"Yeah? Well you've been around him for long enough to realise he comes up with some stupid stuff!" Lina bit back.

"Like that's an excuse!"

"He doesn't mind anyway. It's just us joking about, like when we fight over food. But don't you dare try to make yourself seem better than me. What the hell was with not giving him the letters I sent?"

"Well he asked you to leave for a reason. I thought any contact from you would only hinder his progress."

"Stop lying! You did it on purpose just to keep Gourry for yourself! You think you can just make him forget about his friends like that?"

"I might be stupid and I might have been paralyzed but I'm not deaf…" I spoke lowly to stop the bickering.

"Gourry?" They both replied in unison.

"I can't believe you two are fighting like this. I left you two here alone because I wanted you guys to be friends. You've both helped me and I care about the both of you a lot. But if all you two are going to do is fight when you don't think I'm around, then maybe its better that I leave soon."

Things were quiet for a moment, as I tried to calm myself down a little. I was just frustrated with what happened and so I thought I would try and do something to help.

"I'm going outside for some air, but I'm not going far, so I'll know if you two try to argue again…"

With that, I left the building again and just strolled over to a bench in the darkening streets of the town. I leant back into it and closed my eyes as my head fell backwards. I let out another sigh of frustration and then opened my eyes to be greeted by the first few stars of the night.

"Mind if I sit here?" Marina asked quietly.

"Sure…"

"I just wanted to say that I'm so…"

"Why did you hide those letters from me?"

"Well…you asked her to leave so; I thought you wouldn't want any contact."

"How did you know that? I didn't tell you that I didn't want contact; I just wanted to be on my own. What if Lina was in trouble!? I wouldn't have known!"

"But there you wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"It doesn't matter! I don't care. If Lina needed my help I would have found some way to be there!"

"You love her don't you…?"

"…yes." I replied.

"Why did you never tell her?"

"I was worried about scaring her off. And I like what we have now. If I told her how I felt, then things would just get awkward. I don't want that."

"So you would rather deny your feelings? Don't you want to take the risk and see if things get better?"

"I'm too scared of what might happen if things don't. Things are working well as they are, and I remember being told, if it isn't broken, don't fix it."

"I just think you should tell her how you feel. It's not fair on you or her to keep it locked up inside. Anyway, I have things to do. I'll leave those letters in your room."

"Ok…"

Marina then stood up and headed back to the healer's and went back inside. I sat forward and rested my head on my hand as I watched her the whole way.

"Why did you never tell me how you felt, kurage?"


	9. Chapter 9

To say that I was surprised was kind of an understatement. When I heard Lina's voice, I looked around me quickly but I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Up here."

I glanced up and noticed Lina floating above the roof of the house behind me and she was floating down to sit down beside me, looking at me with serious eyes.

"So? Answer me."

"No Lina! Why were you spying on us?"

"Don't change the subj…"

"I'm not answering you. You were listening in on our conversation. It's not fair of you to just listen in like that without us knowing."

I stood up from the bench, feeling pretty angry and was about to head back to the healer's when I felt Lina's gloved hand gripping onto my wrist, stopping me from going anywhere.

"I'm…I'm sorry Gourry. I was a little worried about what she might say and I wasn't going to have her talk bad about me behind my back."

"Did you hear anything bad then?"

"No…"

"Well I hope you feel happy about yourself then."

I tried to move off again, by tugging away from Lina's hand but she wasn't letting go.

"Dammit, Gourry! This is serious! We have to sort this out now before it gets out of hand."

"Why? We've been fine with the way things are for so long now. Why should it have to change?"

"They don't have to! You seriously think everything would change because we finally admitted to something we knew was there anyway, but just didn't want to talk about it?"

"You mean?"

"Of course." Lina blushed deeply. "Why do you think I stuck around and helped out with money? You should know me enough to know I don't do that kind of thing."

"That's what I'm talking about. Already you've changed the way you normally act because of how you feel. What else is going to end up changing?"

"That's different. Some things are going to change whether we admit our feelings or we don't. I mean look at the way we are now compared to how we first met. A lot of things have already changed between us, but it's not as though things have got worse."

I turned around slowly, and looked down at her with serious eyes. They were the same she gave me just before when she floated down. She looked back and was wondering what they were for.

"So?" She asked.

Her body language telling me she was already feeling uncomfortable. My response was to just step forward and wrap my arms around her slowly; my head moved down and nestled on top of her head so I could smell the scent of the shampoo she used to wash her hair. Lina turned rigid in my arms.

"G…Gourry? What do you think you're doing!?" She struggled to reply, like she couldn't breathe.

"I'm admitting my feelings for you." I replied softly.

She squirmed free from my arms and glared up at me.

"Did you have to make it so damned public though!?" She growled through gritted teeth.

"How else am I supposed to admit me feelings? You want me to kiss you?"

"GYAHH! You could have just said, 'Lina, I have feelings for you, and I love you.'"

"I guess you're right, Lina. Not everything is going to change." I laughed and ruffled her hair.

Lina just grumbled in response, with her arms crossed and an evil glare at me. She then fixed her hair after I finished. She walked past me then, and I caught up to walk along side her.

"I care about you though, Lina. I really do." I said quietly, saying the words a little like you would say what the weather was like.

"Yeah yeah. It's the same here."

"You're supposed to say you care about me too."

"I'm not saying that out loud!"

"It's not like anyone would be able to hear you, unlike now as you're yelling."

"Shove it!"

Lina then pushed me hard and I found myself stumbling, almost collapsing to the ground. I gained my footing first though and quickly turned to Lina and smirked.

"You're so gonna get it now!"

I then started chasing after Lina as she giggled and quickly took off using her flying spell.

"Hey, that's cheating. You know I can't use magic!"

"Who said using magic was cheating? I don't remember reading it in the rules."

"I didn't know there were rules."

"Exactly!"

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I pretty much failed in chasing after Lina and so headed back to the healer's and decided to get some sleep. Although I heard Lina coming back soon after I returned and I was pretty sure she went to Marina's room. I wasn't sure though because I couldn't hear any yelling. I guess that meant they were over fighting, and maybe they were settling their differences.

I was more interested in the small pile of letters on my bed as I sat down beside them. I picked up a bunch and they were all written with Lina's hand writing. I opened the first letter and began reading.

_Hi Gourry,_

_I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing OK. I've been taking care of a few bandit groups near Seyruun and it's been pretty good for relieving some pent up stress. It's not really the same without you around though. I guess you could say I miss you. How silly is that? I just hope you find it in yourself to get better soon, and when you do, I want you to write me so I can visit. If you'll see me anyway…_

_You know, it's not as though I'm in some nearby town so that's why you need to let me know. It's probably best if you send it to Amelia because she'll be able to get it to me. I did tell Amelia and she was determined to visit you but I managed to hold her off. She sent a letter instead so I'm sure you'll get that soon._

_Just get yourself better ok Gourry? I understand that you wanted to be alone, but I didn't want to leave you. You can be pretty selfish sometimes, making yourself seem like the nice person by wanting to do good for others just so you look good yourself! Think about yourself once in a while Gourry, you need to be able to care for yourself because if you're not careful enough, you won't be around to care for other people anymore._

_Miss you._

_Lina_

I sighed slightly as I folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. I smiled as I thought about Lina calling me selfish for wanting to help others. It was funny to read that she went to Seyruun, knowing she was lying to make it seem like she left and continued to travel like I asked her to. Although the whole part where she said it wasn't like she was in a nearby town seemed a little obvious. I probably would have been oblivious to the statement if I hadn't already known the situation.

I looked through the letters again and found the one written by Amelia. I held it and wondered if I should open it. I was slightly scared I would be blown away by some force of justice. I shook it off and opened the letter, then read it.

_Dear Mr Gourry_

_It's with great sadness to hear you have been stricken down in your prime. Evil will go to great lengths to bring down valiant souls who wish to do good in this world. You should know that as long as you have justice in your heart, then you will sure overcome this adversity._

_Ms Lina mentioned that you wish to be alone but I believe she is lying and that you need someone of my expertise to help you in this difficult time. If not my healing abilities then my strength of motivation will find you on the road to recovery in no time. Just let me know and I'll be there in no time at all to help you so you'll be fighting against the injustices of the world._

_Yours truly,_

_Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun_

_P.S. You remember me right?_

I laughed a little as I folded the letter away and placed it back with the other letters. I lay back onto the bed and was glad to know that I had good friends who were willing to help me out when things seemed pretty tough but were good enough to back off when I asked them to. I guess that meant I would have to visit Amelia some time soon and thank her.

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The next day Edward had joined us for breakfast and seemed pretty pleased that the building was in one piece and that neither Lina nor Marina looked as though they were suffering from a fight.

The previous night, after I failed in chasing Lina down since she was cheating, she went to see Marina and I didn't hear much. I guess that meant they weren't fighting and if anything, they probably sorted out their differences because they were pretty friendly this morning.

I was fighting with Lina over breakfast as usual. I think we were pretty even, I stole quite a few slices of toast from her plate, but she took some strips of bacon in retaliation.

"So you guys are probably going to set off soon right." Edward said as he finished his last slice of toast.

"Yeah. We were thinking of leaving tomorrow actually." Lina replied

"Well just so you know. Any plans you have for tonight you have to scrap?"

"Oh really? And why are we supposed to do that?" I asked.

"It's a surprise!"

I looked at Lina and she returned the look and we both gave a slight smile. I nodded a little towards Edward.

"Ok then, we'll make sure that we won't be doing anything tonight."

I glanced to Marina who seemed to smile a little knowing before hiding something out of view in the corner of the room. I pretended to ignore it and figured it must have been something to do with the surprise for later.

"Right then! I think it's time I get a little training in. Right Lina?" I yawned with a stretch, leaning back into my chair.

"Huh?" Lina blinked in reply.

"I'm sure there are a few bandits around that need clearing out."

Lina picked up hearing the word bandits.

"Sure! Time's a wastin'! Let's get going then."

Lina shot up from her chair and marched out of the door and I followed her not too far behind giving a wave to Edward and Marina.

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I glared down at the two bandits facing me as a loud explosion set off behind me moments after Lina had yelled fireball. The two obviously looked scared after I had disarmed most of their buddies and Lina was pretty much destroying everything. I had to admit though, that they were standing their ground despite their fear.

"Why don't you guys just run off before I have to hurt you?" I stated with a low voice.

"We're not just gonna leave our treasure to be stolen by you guys!" One replied defiantly.

"Oh but it was ok for you guys to steal it from someone else? That doesn't sound fair!"

I suddenly charged forward, raising my sword to attack. Both suddenly raised their swords in defensive manner and I smirked as they fell for it. Suddenly with a sharp thrust from my leg into the ground, and my direction had changed instantly. Suddenly I was swinging around and instead of attacking downwards; I was striking from the side.

They had no chance to change their defensive position and I struck the first guy hard with the hilt of my sword into the side of his ribs. The air gushed out of his lungs and he dropped his sword to the ground as he fell to his knees, gasping for air.

The second guy obviously a little panicked, tried to quickly change his defensive stance but using the momentum from the spinning attack, I struck out at him with a booted foot. My foot hit him hard across the chin and his head snapped back sharply and his body soon followed. He then hit the ground and was knocked out cold.

"Yikes Gourry, are you trying to make up for lost time?"

"I guess so. I just wanted to get back into the swing of things."

"You took out over half of them! I barely had a chance for myself."

"Well what do you expect when you slack off like that?"

"Slack off!? You never gave me a chance to begin with!"

"You snooze, you loose!"

"I'll make you snooze!" Lina growled as she clenched a fist.

"Hey, we better get back soon. Edward and Marina have that surprise."

"Oh yeah, hey wait! Don't change the subject!"

"What subject?"

I started running off back towards the town and Lina started chasing me after grabbing a good stash of the treasure the bandits were holding on to.

Once we got back, and Lina had forgotten about the bandit situation and seemingly pleased with the treasures she gained, we went back to the healer's to find out what it was Edward and Marina had planned. We both stepped through the door and were surprised when everything was dark since night had fallen.

"Is anybody home?" I questioned into the darkness and not getting a reply. "A little light Lina?"

"Sure."

She then cast a lighting spell and let it float into the air. The moment she did so, the whole place was illuminated bright and there behind the table were Marina and Edward.

"SURPRISE!" They yelled in unison.

I jumped back a little in shock and suddenly noticed the large cake on the table and a couple of presents on the table wrapped up in brown paper.

"Open your presents Gourry! Hurry!" Edward jumped up and down excitedly.

"Ok!" I replied feeling the excitement catching.

I opened the two presents quickly and was slightly shocked at what I saw. They were small framed pictures of Edward and Marina.

"It's so you don't forget about us." Marina spoke softly with a small smile on her face.

"Thanks guys, I really like them. But you realise I won't forget about you."

I stepped forward and hugged the both of them at the same time.

"Let's eat the cake!" Edward shouted.

"Great!" I responded and quickly pounced on the cake.

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Later that night, I went back to my room as the others were enjoying themselves. Lina and Marina were sharing stories and Edward sounded like he was enjoying Lina's events more than mine. She always made them more dramatic than me. I figured she would be a good storyteller!

I guess in the end I was just a little sad that I would be leaving since Edward and Marina had spent a lot of time looking after me, and being there for so long made it all the more tougher to leave. I stared at the pictures and was grateful that I was given something to remind me of them, even though I would be sure to never forget them.

Soon there was a knock on the door and in stepped Lina. She closed the door behind her and then sat down on the bed beside me.

"You ok, Gourry?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just realised I'm really going to miss them."

"Remember I said we can always come back sometime."

"I know, but it's just leaving is going to be tough after being here for so long."

"You care about them a lot, don't you?"

"I do. They took care of me and helped me when I was feeling down."

Lina placed her hand gently on my knee and smiled at me softly. I looked back to her and found myself getting lost in her ruby red eyes.

"I know I'll be ok with you by my side though."

Finding it difficult to resist, I leaned my head down slowly towards Lina's. I was suddenly nervous but I felt like it was something I needed to do. Lina also seemed to realise and rather than pull away, she simply closed her eyes and stayed there. In moments, our lips touched and I quickly wrapped my arms around her, holding her body close to mine. The soft gentle kiss was sweet, and seemed to last an eternity.

However eternity wasn't long enough and we slowly pulled apart. Lina looked up and licked her lips with a playful smile.

"That was nice." She said softly.

"It was…" I replied, still in the moment of the kiss and a little out of it.

Lina laughed a little in reply before sitting up from the bed.

"You should get some rest since we're going tomorrow."

"Ok then, night Lina."

"Night Gourry."

Lina then left the room, and I was left in the darkness, replaying the moments of that kiss over and over again in my head.

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The next morning I enjoyed what I hoped wouldn't be my last breakfast made by Marina. Then once we finished, I got my things together and was ready to make my farewells with Marina and Edward.

"You take care now Gourry. And don't be a stranger ok? You need to check up on my sword fighting." Edward said, obviously looking a little sad that I was leaving.

"I'll be careful, don't you worry. And of course we'll be back. Don't forget you can start travelling yourself maybe. We might cross paths some time."

I then hugged Edward tightly before moving onto Marina.

"Edward is right. You should really take care of yourself. Don't want you getting hurt again?"

"Thanks for taking care of me Marina. I probably would be standing here right now if it wasn't for you pushing me from the beginning. I owe you."

I then hugged Marina and she returned it just as much.

Once finished, we began to head off and as we did, we waved Edward and Marina goodbye. They did the same in return, and before long they were out of sight. I sighed a little and looked forward, walking beside Lina.

"You know Gourry. I have a feeling we'll see them sometime soon."

"I think so too."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, so that's it. That's the end of the story. Sorry for it being a little rushed in the end but embarrasingly enough, I've never finished a story off in my life. I was worried this was just going to end up going on and on, and I would just drain the life from the story. I realised it would be a little big for one of my normal chapters but too small for two so I just decided to leave it as one. But yeah, it definitely feels rushed at the end but most of what I wanted to write about was what I started with, and the rest was mainly an afterthought

Anyway, I hope you guys at least enjoyed it a little. I appreciate your comments, and thanks for reading.


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